Trinity junior blends chemistry with art

Published 2:25 pm, Tuesday, August 16, 2011

In the summer-long process of blending her love for chemistry with art, Trinity University junior Madeline Corona has become equal parts researcher, historian, operator of a handheld X-ray gun, and detective.

As a Sams Foundation Fellow, she has collaborated with three Trinity professors and two San Antonio iconic institutions - the Alamo and the San Antonio Museum of Art - to learn about ancient art and artifacts through their chemical properties.

"It's been like a dream come true," she said in a press release.

Born in San Antonio but a Boston-area resident for the last 10 years, Corona returned "home" to Trinity to study chemistry.

She realized after her first four semesters that she didn't want to teach, go to medical school, or enter the pharmaceutical field — some of the common career paths for chem majors. In the background was her interest in art conservation, but Corona was uncertain how to blend pure science with the humanities.

At a campus lecture last spring, she spoke by chance with chemistry professor Michelle Bushey, who told Corona about a portable device acquired in 2010 that that uses X-ray fluorescence techniques to help art historians analyze elements of pigments, glazes, and other components of pottery and sculpture.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the XRF reveals information that can guide conservators in answering preservation questions and solving other mysteries. Essentially, the instrument identifies elements on the surface of the object that can't be detected just by looking at it, Bushey explained.

The first Trinity student to be trained on the XRF, Corona was asked to take readings that would begin to confirm or debunk a claim by a German scholar that an ornate marble Roman sarcophagus on the first floor of the San Antonio Museum of Art is a fraud, not from A.D. 130-150 as the piece is described.

"All they told me was to use the XRF on Roman statues," Corona said, adding that she had no idea about the suspicious authenticity of the tomb in the Gilbert Denman Gallery for Ancient Sculpture until she arrived at the museum for a morning's work.

Jessica Powers, curator of SAMA's Art of the Ancient Mediterranean World, said the sarcophagus in question was acquired in 1990 but was described four years later as the work of a "skillful forger" by a German scholar who has since died and whose field notes are lost.

Because Powers is writing a book about the gallery's artifacts, she felt the objections needed to be explored. The XRF work will not yield a final answer, but it launches the investigation and affords valuable field experience for Corona, Powers said.

Indeed, Corona said her summer research has been "an amazing opportunity that I never thought I would get. I'd like to attend graduate school for art conservation, and this could open doors for me because it's a small field."

In addition to her SAMA work, she joined Bushey at the Alamo, where officials from the shrine found unusual pigments on the wall.

The Trinity team climbed scaffolding to take readings to help the conservator determine whether the pigments contain mercury or lead — data that could signal the type of chemicals to use for preservation and to learn more about the history of the Alamo.

For Corona, the site work had special meaning since she was born at the nearby Nix Hospital.

In addition, Corona studied with Kate Ritson, professor of art and art history, and with Nicolle Hirschfeld, associate professor of classical studies, to determine if potmarks on ancient vases were applied before or after the objects were fired, a detail that is important to the study of trade routes and exchanges in the Ancient Mediterranean.

"This is an amazing interdisciplinary collaboration," Bushey said. "It's not unusual for chemistry to partner with biology, for example. But for chemistry to collaborate with classical studies or art and art history, that's distinctive."

Corona is one of two Sams Foundation Fellows at Trinity this summer. The other is senior Alexa Goers of Oshkosh, Wis., who spent the summer in China studying the tectonic history and timing of continental collisions with Dan Lehrmann, the Pyron Professor of Geosciences at Trinity.

Both projects epitomize the summer research experience at Trinity, said Claudia Scholz, research programs coordinator in Trinity's Academic Affairs. "Their projects span field and laboratory research, sciences and humanities disciplines, past and present, global questions and local impact," she said, adding:

"Summer research experiences allow Trinity students to extend and expand on their education during the summer. Students work hand-in-hand with faculty on research; they are not mere assistants but true collaborators in this work. Summer research fellowships allow students to pursue these enriching experiences who might otherwise have to take summer jobs unrelated to their career goals just to earn money."